Original Article on Los Angeles Times

Abdullah Alathamna was 7 years old when the first Israeli shell crashed into his family's home in the Gaza Strip, jolting him from sleep. In the blitz of explosions that followed, Abdullah lost his mother, two sisters and his right foot. Three and a half years later, he found himself in a hospital room in Los Angeles. He was dazed by the morphine. The bones in his right shin ached. The nurse asked questions in a language he didn't understand. Abdullah plunged into a flashback, thrashing and shrieking and calling for his mother. A woman reached out and cupped his face in her hands. She cooed in Arabic, calling him hayati -- my life -- and habibi -- my love. The woman, Lily Karam, 58, didn't know the boy before he arrived in California a mont...(read more)